“It’s a ballpark I’ve been going to since I was eight years old,” Suter said before Tuesday’s game against the Reds. “Just to be able to pitch here against one of the league’s best hitters in (Joey) Votto and to be able to put up a scoreless inning was a dream come true.”

After getting Eugenio Suarez to pop up to start the inning, the left-handed Suter gave up a single to Votto, but then picked him off of first. He then struck out Adam Duvall to end the inning.

In the press box, official scorer Mike Cameron even got a little emotional. Cameron, who has been an official scorer at Reds games since 2009, was Suter’s high school baseball coach. Although Suter is the 12th different player Cameron has coached to debut in the majors (a 13th Moeller grad, Alex Wimmers, debuted a week after Suter), it was the first time he was the official scorer for one of his former players.

Cameron started coaching at Moeller in 1969 and retired following the 2007 season.

“When I think back, I was just hoping to get a kid that I could get on the all-league team,” Cameron said.

On that first team was Buddy Bell, son of Gus Bell and a future big-league All-Star. Since then, Len Matuszek, Bill Long, Barry Larkin, Ken Griffey Jr., David Bell, Adam Hyzdu, Mike Bell, Stephen Larkin, Eric Surkamp, Andrew Brackman, Suter and Wimmers have played in the big leagues. Wimmers was a senior in Cameron’s final year, and Suter was a junior. He played under current head coach Tim Held his senior year.

Each one of the 13 is special, Cameron said.

“It's a different kid, different parents, different teammates,” Cameron said after visiting with Suter and his parents. “No, it doesn't get old.”

Cameron even coached Suter’s father, Mike, in baseball and football. The elder Suter was a member of Penn State’s national championship team in 1983.

“You’ve got a great culture there, great coaches. Everyone works hard,” Suter said of Moeller. “There’s a lot of talent there, so everyone works to make everyone else better. Iron sharpens iron kind of thing. There’s something special about the place. It breeds success in athletes and in the classroom. I’m really grateful for my time there.”

When Cameron saw Suter take the mound, he said he saw the same throwing motion and same mechanics that he had at Moeller. There’s an uptick in velocity — up to 87 mph from the 82-84 he had in high school.

Cameron saw potential in Suter, although it would probably be a stretch to say he saw the big leagues in his future. When Harvard called about one of Suter’s teammates, Cameron recommended Suter because he had the academics, and he thought he could develop into an Ivy League pitcher.

Not only did Suter play at Harvard, he earned a degree in environmental science. A 31st-round pick of the Brewers in 2012, Suter was called up to start for the Brewers on Aug. 19 in Seattle. He has appeared in seven games out of the bullpen since then and hasn’t allowed a run.

“He's good at disrupting the hitters' timing and rhythm. It's timing really. That’s what he's good at,” said Brewers manager Craig Counsell. “We tend to hold the velocity against him. I think everybody does, but it's working. It works. He's shown it. I think the swings of the hitters is the biggest positive sign in this. They are fooled swings, which is hard to do. The hitters take a different swing off of him than they do most guys. That's a real positive.”

Counsell said he didn’t even think about the homecoming aspect when he called for Suter in the eighth on Monday. He called on him to get outs.

But Suter was certainly grateful for his chance to pitch at Great American Ball Park, a place he’d been going to games since it opened. He was at the 2010 playoff game against the Phillies, cheering on Votto, a player he faced on Monday.

“I’ve watched him for years now, he was the MVP, he’s on his way to the Hall of Fame,” Suter said. “Just to be able to face him — he got a hit off of me, but it was a great at-bat, a great battle and just to be able to go toe-to-toe with guys like that, it’s a dream come true.”